You changed my life.

“My name is Steffi and I go to Christel House India. I am in high school.

I come from a poor background. Things were going good until my par­ents had to pay for school for my two brothers and myself. Our family got into a bad situation—we had finan­cial difficulties. Sometimes we didn’t really have food to eat and we had no water supply. My father started to use alcohol. My parents were going to stop us from studying.

That is when my neighbors told us about Christel House and I started going to school there. It changed me so much. I learned many things, not just about studies, but about life. I am interested in everything and want to give my best. I started sharing all we learned at Christel House with my parents. It began to change every­one, not only me. My father stopped drinking.

If I wasn’t at Christel House, my parents could have chosen child marriage or child labor for me. I didn’t have values for living, but since coming to Christel House, I know I can do something in this world. I have to study as much as possible, become an engineer and help people in my community, like has been done for me.

This is all because of Christel House and all the donors who support it. You changed my life.”

Steffi is one of roughly 1,200 current Christel House India students who will have a better life because you care.

But there are many more students in need. The Indian government is building a new school for Christel House in Naya Raipur. But there are many expenses to cover.